“Mister Clay,” I say with confidence, keeping my attention solely on my book.
“Beauty,” he replies, catching me by surprise, kissing my cheek.
I smile immediately and close the book, sliding it into my bag. “How are you this Tuesday afternoon?”
“I’m better now,” he teases. “It’s always a beautiful day when I get to see you.”
"I’ve seen you every day for the past, like, five days.”
He shrugs. “All my days are beautiful now with you in them.”
I bite my lower lip and shake my head with a smile. He’s swoony and corny; Ican’t. He looks comfortable here, just as he does now in my house and store, but it wasn’t always like that. He must feel at ease here, and suddenly, I remember.
“You know, we talked about you opening this center because you wanted to be a therapist, but we never talked about why it didn’t happen. You said it didn’t work out, but that’s about it.”
“I really thought this was my calling after they died. I wanted nothing more than to be helpful, to be there for kids the way I wish someone was there for me as a teen. The way my therapist is here now.”
“You’re a good listener, though; was it that you couldn’t pass the exams?” I tease, but his somber look is indication enough that he’s not in the same headspace.
“I was good at it, I think. At working with the kids, especially with the animals. Chili and her sister, Bean, were my therapy animals in session, working with Julia. I had a good group.” He exhales, taking off his glasses and brushing his face. “Ihad a hard time wearing the therapist coat and then going home and leaving them here. It affected me beyond measure. There was this particular kid…”
I squeeze his thigh. “You don’t have to share. I feel like lately, all we’ve done is talk about painful things. It’s okay. I was just curious.”
“It’s fine. I can’t tell you much either way because of confidentiality, but let’s just say he went through something nobody should go through. He and his brother had a very hard home life, and his brother ended up in big trouble. The kid, my kid, was so troubled, so sad, so broken, and I couldn’t shake it.”
“What happened?”
He shakes his head. “Someone got custody of him outside of Florida, so I actually don’t know.”
My body is covered with goosebumps; there’s something eerily familiar about his words and that case, but I can’t put my finger on it. Two kids, a bad home life, a brother who ended up in big trouble. I furrow my brows.
There’s no way, right?
“Bella, wait!” Someone, I think Julia, shouts, followed by Bella appearing in front of me, tears threatening to fall.
I jolt up. “What’s wrong?”
“Did you know?” she all but shouts, her whole body shaking.
“Did I know what?”
“I wasn’t asking you,” she spits, and she’s right; she wasn’t looking at me—she was looking at Holden.
“What’s going on?” he asks her, looking at Julia, who looks terrified.
“I have to go back to the rest of the kids,” Julia mentions, but she looks like she’s going to throw up. “I can talk to her, but I need a minute.”
I nod. “Yes, take your time.”
Bella’s nose flares, one hand opening and closing into a tight fist while the other clutches something.
“Honey, what’s going on?”
“Did you know?” she asks between seethes.
“Did I know what? That you were going to come here?” Holden asks. “Yeah, your mom and I talked about it. I’m sorry. If it makes you uncomfortable, I ca?—”
“No. Not that,” she interrupts, grabbing his hand and slamming whatever she was holding into his. It’s a newspaper article, and I don’t understand why she’s so upset about it.
